Sunday, June 27, 2010

Obama s'en va t'en guerre against the DPRK

US president Obama [BHO]has little way at the G 20 meeting in Canada but he did persuade the declining weight in the world of the G 8 to condemn the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea aka North Korea]for its 'role' in the sinking of the ROK [Republic of Korea aka South Korea] corvette 'Cheonan' in March 2010.The American president has a list of don'ts for North Korea: nuclear testing, adhering to two UN resolutions replete with sanctions, embracing its responsibility in the sunken 'Cheonan' brouhaha, returning to the six party talks in Beijing, so on and on.Today it is announced that he ordered the command of US [and UN troops] to remain stay put in Seoul for another 3 years at such time it might be turned over to ROK control. Obviously a pointed warning at Pyongyang not to try anything funny military, one hand; on the other, BHO is allowing the US to participate in naval exercises with its South Korean ally in the China Sea nea--but not quite near--DPRK territorial limits to avoid an untoward incident.Mr. Obama has embraced and supported the aggressive policy of South Korea's president Lee Myung bek towards the DPRK. The American president has put the US on a war like approach towards North Korea, one carried out hawkishly by the cold warrior secretary of state Hillary Clinton from day one in the 44 US president's assuming the powers of commander and chief.Mr. Obama and Mme Clinton have pressed for more sanctions but the linchpin of its threatening policy towards the DPRK China has put the kaboosh on agreeing to further UN judgments against its North Korean neighbour and ally, thereby rendering such a move a dead issue.Yet this has not stopped the US and its intelligence agencies and hosts of apparatchiks in and out of government posing as experts, advisors, and officials on the matter of Korea, from carrying out a stealth campaign of leaked rumours, innuendo, and falsehoods, to paint the DPRK in starker colours than the reputation it has acquired in the court of world opinion.The DPRK never one to let the initiative to drop, has called for discussions with South Korea to discuss the sinking of the 'Cheonan', which it has steadfastly denied responsibility. In fact, it has put out its own dossier on the sunken corvette which South Korea and the US refuse to consider, even though no direct responsibility has been pinned on North Korea. And Pyongyang has the courage to say to BHO that the US should keep its nose out of Korean affairs!The famous 150 page international report supported by Sweden and Australia that the DPRK sank the 'Cheonan' has had selective pages released. Now this is a curious state of affairs: if the 'experts' agree on Pyongyang's guilt, why has it dug in its heels by suggesting that there is so much 'intelligence' that they can share with the world community. GuamDiary has always asked: 'if North Korea's guilty, then why not publish the complete report? Are the data so 'compromising' that the authors of the report fear that they threaten intelligence and military agencies and commissions integrity? If we only knew what they knew.............As GuamDiary has commented, even in the ROK the military and civilian authorities have come under criticism for the sloppiness of the investigation of the sunken 'Cheonan'. A strong debate continues on the matter which hardly makes the non Korean media but is widely commented on in the Korean.The ROK's president Lee is riding the high moral way of rearmament against the North. From the very first day of his presidency he has pursued a muscular policy against the DPRK. He killed the 'Sunshine Policy', cut down on food exports, denied fertilisers necessary for food production which would help alleviate food shortages in the DPRK. He has encouraged right wing Christian and anti North organisation to aggressively anatognise Kim Jong il & co.DPRK has taken shelter in its hermit like shell but it has not allowed the ROK or the US from carrying the day. They haven't owing to the failure of the militant anti DPRK global campaign of theirs which has some bite but remain hollow in stated objectives.BHO remains klewless in lifting the deadweight of a wrong headed and ill conceived approach to the DPRK. He has learnt the sorry lessons of his predecessor George W. Bush who broke his teeth on similar hollow results. But BHO has set his foot on an endless non issue war footing. He's failing in Iraq and Afghanistan and now in a non shooting war he is spinning his wheels.